Notes
Note N284
Index
Thought to have arrived on the Clara Wheeler departed Liverpool, England (27 Nov 1854) with 422 LDS immigrants; Church leader Henry E Phelps
Date of arrival 12 Jan 1855 in New Oleans, Louisiana
Source BMR Book #1040 pp 172-189 (FHL #025, 690); Customes #261 (FHL #200, 181)
Notes
Note N285
Index
186 saints on board ship IDAHO and Elder Frank H. Hyde was in charge
Notes
Note N286
Index
Scott and Amy Jensen Ancestry
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~amyandscottancestry/ index_files/AgnesMeasomP1.htm
Agnes Measom-Pages 1-3
BRIEF LIFE HISTORY OF AGNES MEASOM PATERSON1
Born: March 20, 1859
Died: March 24, 1917
Agnes Measom, Daughter of Tomas and Sarah Hill Measom, was born March 20, 1859 in Burton Overy, Leicester, England. She was the 6th child in a family of eleven children, seven girls and four boys.
Agnes’ parents had become members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1850’s after having received the gospel message. Their home, a thatched roof cottage, where the missionaries were welcomed, was used as a meeting place for the saints in Burton Overy.
Thomas and Sarah worked and saved and looked forward to the day when they would have enough money to immigrate to America with their family. September 7, 1870 the day finally came when members of the Measom family boarded the ship “Idaho” at Liverpool, England, destined for New York, America.
One can only guess the various emotions going on inside the little eleven year old English girl Agnes. She probably felt anticipation, for it had been a year, a whole year since her older brother and sister had boarded the ship “Minnesota” and sailed for America. And now it would only be a month before they would see each other again. On the other hand, Agnes’ tenderhearted soul was very likely missing her blind grandma Hill before the ship even sailed out to sea.
And the ocean; how vast and deep it was. Perhaps her sister Ellen or brother Job had written about their ocean voyage of rough seas and high high waves. As it turned out, a frightening storm occurred while the ship “Idaho” was crossing the ocean. It lashed at the vessel until it seemed as though the ship were surely going to sink. But the faith and prayers of the LDS Saints aboard the ship were answered and they arrived safely in New York on September 21, 1870.
From New York they traveled by rail to Ogden, Utah arriving October 1, 1870. From there they traveled by wagon to Spanish Fork, Utah where Job and Ellen were living. What a happy reunion they must have had with family members all safely together once again.
Spanish Fork was an agricultural area, and Thomas found employment with a farmer by the name of John F. Beck who was very kind to them. Mr. Beck also gave the Measom girls employment in his dairy.
At this time, for the most part, the settlers were still struggling with adverse conditions in order to provide for their basic needs: shelter, sufficient fuel for warmth and cooking, food and clothing, and so forth. As they labored for these necessities they also worked with others for the common good of all. For instance, by the middle of the 1860’s the Thurber school stood on the northwest corner of the city square. It wasn’t too long after that that the central school was built. Progress towards making life a little easier for the settlers came when a flour mill was built and the Utah South railroad track were laid by 1876 and so on.
The Measoms were members of the Spanish Fork LDS ward, Utah Stake. On October 16, 1871 Agnes was baptized to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John Hayes and confirmed by Zebedee Coltrin.
Note by Beth: ‘It was of interest to me that in 1856 the First Presidency (headed by Brigham Young) sent word to the Bishops of each ward throughout the territory and requested that they see to it that every grain raiser permitted the poor to glean his fields unless he preferred to glean them himself immediately after the grain was ground.’
Agnes was a nice looking young lady with a kind gentle nature. These virtues did not go unnoticed by a young man by the name of Joseph Randall Paterson when he met her while she was gleaning in Mr. Beck’s wheat fields. And, apparently Joseph’s good looks and personality were attractive to Agnes because March 13, 1877, Agnes Measom and Joseph Randall Paterson were married in Spanish Fork, Utah by Bishop George D. Snell.
It was common practice at this time for people to be rebaptized as a sign of rededication or recommitment to living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Rebaptisms were often performed just prior to receiving endowments and sealing. Agnes was rebaptized on September 6, 1877 by James Higgensen and Joseph was rebaptized on October 4, 1877 by James Higgensen.
On November 29, 1877 Agnes and Joseph received their endowments and were sealed for time and all eternity in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Joseph Randall Paterson was born August 12, 1852 at Blooming Grove (Kaysville), Davis County, Utah. His father, Samuel Paterson Jr., had emigrated from Scotland, his mother, Elizabeth Randall, had emigrated from England. They were married at Kanesville, Iowa in 1851; a week after their arrival there and approximately seven weeks prior to their crossing the plains to Utah. The lived in the Kaysville area for a few years and then moved to Spanish Fork, Utah.
After Joseph and Agnes were married Joseph built Agnes an adobe house just across the street from his parent’s home, which was located about one block east of Main Street and three to four blocks from Center Street in Spanish Fork.
Agnes gave birth to twelve children; eight boys and four girls.
Their names and birth years are as follows:
Joseph H. (1878)
Thomas S. (1879)
Rose Ellen (1882)
Sarah E. (1884)
William Oliver (1886)
James W. (1888)
David Archibald (1891)
Agnes May (1893)
Alma C. (1895)
Robert B. (1897)
Spencer M. (1899)
Phoebe Leone (1901)
There were no hospitals so I presume that all of Agnes’ babies were born in their own home. Mrs. Archibald, known as “Grandma Archibald,” was a midwife in the Spanish Fork area who delivered hundreds of babies. People loved her for her gentle caring attitude. Probably most, if not all, of Agnes’ babies were delivered by her.
Agnes’ fourth child, Sarah Elizabeth, gave and account of her birth at home in 1884: Joseph was working as a plasterer and had returned home from work, had eaten his supper, and had retired early for he was tired and he needed to be to work early the next morning. Around midnight Agnes awoke with labor pains and sent Joseph to get Mrs. Archibald who lived not very far from them. Agnes, in hard labor, gave birth to a little baby girl just as Joseph returned with the midwife. The baby was born on Joseph’s denim jumper, covered with plaster, that he had left on the floor by the side of the bed. Sarah said, “This did not cause me any trouble for I did not catch cold nor have any infection.”
The following had been written about Grandma Archibald:
“Grandma Archibald (Christine or Christina) Kinghorn Archibald Midwife was known far and wide for her gentleness and unaffected sympathy for the bereaved. The satchel she carried was known as the baby satchel.”
“Our Pioneer Heritage…Grandma Archibald” pg 435-456 (Midwife)
979.2 C 24 to V 6 Copy 4 Vol 6
Agnes’ seventh child, David, was given the middle name of Archibald after this midwife who delivered him (throughout his life David didn’t care for this name very much and divulged what the middle initial “A” stood for only when he needed to). After David’s birth Agnes became very ill with Malaria. She suffered chills and fever but was kept warm in woolen clothing and woolen blankets and finally she became better. It was felt that it was a true blessing when she didn’t have a reoccurrence.
Joseph and Agnes’ children were all physically strong and they all lived to a good age. They all married and had good-sized families of their own.
One could not write the history of Agnes Measom Patterson without also writing about her family. She devoted her life to raising her children. She never neglected them for social or other affairs.
Her son Spencer said, “I’m sure there was a lot of love in our home. Each child, as it came upon this earth, was welcomed into the home. We got along fine as a family. We had a good deal of respect and love for one another. I’d say for a family of 12 children we got along beautifully. We had problems like any family, but nothing serious. We worked together, sang together, and prayed together. We were a good family.”
For Agnes, her family was her life.
As the children were growing up Joseph worked at different trades to provide for them. He worked as a plasterer, brick layer, peddler, for a while he owned and ran a molasses mill, but for the most part he farmed when he could not find carpenter jobs. Agnes was the manager and it was up to her to see that the money stretched as far as it would go.
When Joseph ran the molasses mill, one of the greatest events of each day for the children was when Agnes had them take Joseph his lunch at work. While at the mill the children would break up a sugar cane, peel it, and chew the pulp to savor the sweet juice. They didn’t know what sugar was when Agnes’ first children were young; they only had molasses and honey for sweets. But the molasses tasted really good mixed with Agnes’ sweet butter and spread on her homemade bread.
It was quite an occasion when Joseph and Agnes took their children to Lake Shore to visit members of Agnes’ family. Joseph hitched a team of horses to a wagon, put straw in the bed and covered the straw with a quilt. This was where the children sat, swaying and bouncing as the wagon rolled along, while Joseph and Agnes sat on the spring seat up front.
As Agnes chatted and visited with her sisters Phyllis and Rose, the children played with their cousins. They generally spent a whole day having a wonderful time and usually arrived back home quite late. Grandma Paterson would have the chores done and a nice fire going so that the house was warm for them.
Joseph’s parents, Samuel and Elizabeth, were very good to their son, his wife Agnes, and their children. They spent many joyous hours together. Elizabeth was a lot of fun and the children enjoyed being with her. Agnes must have had a good relationship with her mother-in-law because after Joseph moved his family to Leland and after Elizabeth’s husband’s death, Elizabeth often walked to Leland to be with the family.
Joseph, Agnes, and family lived in Spanish Fork until around 1892 or 1893. Joseph obtained work wherever he could find it until his father asked him if he would like to move onto a farm he owned in Leland. And so Joseph and Agnes moved their family to the small farming district about two miles west of Spanish Fork and Joseph became a farmer.
The farm consisted of around sixty acres. They planted crops, mostly sugar beets, and a large vegetable garden. They also planted wheat and fruit trees and small fruit (rhubarb), and berries of all kinds. Joseph built a storage room of rock by the side of the small hill close to where they would build a new brick house. When winter came, all kinds of vegetables were stored for use through the winter.
With time they were able to purchase chickens, pigs, a cow, and a few hives of bees. Their growing family became self-sustaining. Very few things came to their home that had to be purchased.
When they first moved to the farm in Leland they lived in a two-room log house. One room had a rough board floor and the other room had a dirt floor. They sprinkled the dirt floor with a little water and then swept it. It looked nice and smooth after the family walked around on it for a while.
When more children were born, these two rooms became so crowded that Agnes and Joseph seceded to build another house. It seemed that they were always burning a kiln of brick or adding on and so this time Joseph started planning a large house. Joseph, being a carpenter and bricklayer, did a great deal of the work. His sons Hyrum and Thomas were old enough that they were a great help to him. The soil was the right kind to make brick and those Joseph made were very pretty and red and as hard as stone. Besides the house, there was a little summer kitchen on the south side and a porch that ran along the east of the house and partway on the north side.
There were bedrooms upstairs, but as for sleeping arrangements went in the wintertime, the boys slept three to a bed for several reasons: first, lack of space; second, not enough beds; and third, to keep warm.
There were no plumbing facilities except for a “chick sales special,” with a crescent moon cut in the door. It was located about one hundred fifty paces from the house. This was alright in the summer, but very cold and wet in the wintertime.
In order to get to the house one had to turn off the main Spanish Fork to Leland highway onto a narrow dirt road and travel south for about a city block in distance, to reach the house which sat on top of the hill on the edge of the Spanish Fork river channel.
At first, the water for drinking, cooking, cleaning and dishwashing had to be hauled in ten gallon cans from the neighbors or from town. Everyone rejoiced the day the well drivers struck water giving the Patersons a flowing well, hugging each other and crying. It was a great day
When the day finally came that they moved their furniture and belongings into their new home they concluded that it was not too attractive. The lumber that had been used on the floors was stout but rough and so they weren’t too smooth. To remedy this Agnes started making carpets by sewing strips of cloth together and then rolling these strips into balls. When there were several balls they took them to someone who had a machine to weave carpets. Agnes bought carpet warp (a strong piece of cord in different colors), the strip was made as long as the room and a yard wide. After much work, but with little expense, Agnes finally had floor coverings. Grandmother Elizabeth helped a great deal with the rug sewing. She also made other pretty things to make the house attractive. Daughter Sarah said how she loved that house and the memory of her parents and brothers and sisters in it.
Agnes had a big black coal and wood range for heating and cooking. She was an excellent cook and she had the talent of being able to prepare a good meal quickly despite the fact that she had limited supplies and variety. The children said that when Agnes cooked something and put it on the table there was not quibbling, they ate it. She generally cooked a good breakfast and a large meal at noon. They sometimes had bread and milk for supper. Because their diet was very plain there was very little sickness among the family members.
The stove had a tank on the side next to the fire that heated water for dishes and baths. Taking a bath in those days was not simple task, especially in the winter. Buckets of water had to be hauled to the house to fill the stove tank. This meant numerous trips through the snow, for the tank held many gallons. There was no built-in tub or showers in those days. The kitchen was utilized for several reasons: first, it was always warm; second, the warm water was in the stove tank nearby; and third, it was easy to wipe up any water that splashed outside the tub onto the bare floor.
Agnes had extra large galvanized washtubs that also served as bath tubs. It took a lot of planning to make it possible for all the members of such a large family to bathe and also have privacy. This was especially true on Saturday night when the older children wanted to get ready for a dance or a party and all needed to be ready for the Sabbath day.
The wash basin was utilized between the weekly tub baths. From spring until it became too cold in the fall the children also went swimming in the Spanish Fork River that ran through their farm. There was a nice swimming hole with pretty clear water and plenty of shade just a little ways away from the house. Agnes didn’t worry too much about the younger children swimming there because the older children were good to watch them.
Money was scarce and Agnes worked hard to see that the children had proper clothes. Joseph’s parents helped when they could. Samuel owned shares in the Provo Woolen Mills and the brought home large bolts of linsey for sheets and bolts of grey for dresses. One of Agnes’ daughters said that it seemed their dresses were always grey. But Agnes sewed little colored (or white) pinafores to wear over them.
Samuel also brought home large bales of black yarn from the woolen mills. It seemed that grandmother Elizabeth was always knitting stockings for the grandchildren so that they could keep warm.
Note by Beth: ‘I do not know if Samuel’s yarn was the source or the same kind of yarn that was mentioned by another of Agnes’ children when she said that Agnes started to knit each of the children long wool stockings early enough each fall that they had a pair of nice warm stockings to put on by the time cold weather set in. She said that Agnes used black Germantown wool yarn. It was mostly black but sometimes it would be grey, brown, or sometimes dark red.
Agnes would enlist the help of one of the children to hold the skeins of yarn while she rolled them into balls. This made the yarn easier to knit.
The following are comments of three of the children about these stockings as they remember them:
Rose, talking about Grandmother Elizabeth’s stockings: “They were always warm but must have looked very funny. What would the children say now if they saw them?”
Sarah, talking about Agnes’ stockings: “Each child had a pair of nice warm stockings to put on. They were a little above the knee and were always plenty long.”
Spencer (his was a different perspective): “It seems that she never made the socks long enough. They didn’t go far enough up my leg or over the knee and I had an awful time keeping them up. Sometimes we used binder twine to tie around them to keep them from falling down.”
Agnes also made the children red flannel underwear, and that was standard procedure; red flannel underwear and black stockings.
Agnes tried to keep the children well dressed but clothes were not easy to get, especially for a family of twelve children. In later years some of the boys made the comment that the boys who got their chores done first were the ones who got the suits, or better clothes, and they were the ones who got to go to church, or the party, or the dance. There were times when the children were growing up that there just weren’t enough suits or nice clothes for all of them at once.
Joseph’s work as a carpenter took him away from home for long periods of time and Agnes had the greater share of the responsibility of raising the children. She had to see that they were fed, clothed, and disciplined; that the children did the things they were supposed to do on the farm, that they went to school, and also she saw to it that they received the spiritual guidance they needed.
When the sugar factory was being built right across the fence west of the Paterson home, Agnes took in borders. This added responsibility and work that was very hard and difficult on her. But times were hard and in this large family every member had to work to keep the wolf from the door. There was always some chore to do for the children such as sweep the door yard, feed the chickens, care for the younger children, and churning butter in the cedar churn (called the dasher churn). The child pushed down and lifted up, pushed down and lifted up again and again the tall handle which made the cream inside the churn splash until it turned into butter.
Herding cows was another chore, but the children often made the most of it by swimming in the river as the cows ate grass along the banks.
The main source of income when Joseph farmed was sugar beets. A crop which, at the time, brought in very little money but demanded slave labor. The boys had do work very hard and then stay out of school to harvest the beets. This was done many times in the cold wet snow.
Sometimes in the summer when it was hot Agnes made a cold drink for the children as they worked in the fields. Just before she took the drink out to them she put something in it to make it fizz.
For boys and girls to stay out of school because of their need to work was not uncommon in those hard times. Each child was expected to contribute and lighten the financial load. When Sarah was in the 8th grade (which was as far as most children went to school in those days) she left school to work for an old lady cleaning her house. She worked very hard for a week washing 9 ft high ceilings and rough plastered walls with a harsh cleaning agent (a brown rosin bar of soap). Her arms and hands were sore when she finished the job. When she was ready to be paid the woman deliberately paid her with rotten eggs. A kindhearted store keeper accepted them and gave Sarah material for a dress. He made the statement that the old she-devil had pulled this trick before.
When the woman that Sarah worked for died, the old straw tick mattress on her bed was taken out to be burned. In carrying the mattress out it broke open and inside was padded with money she had put in bags and sewn to the mattress cover.
Thomas was a wonderful son to his parents. He helped with the expenses by hauling milk. He had an old team and a lumber wagon. He picked up the milk at the farmer’s homes and hauled it to the creamery at Lake Shore. He earned $30 a month ($1 a day) which must have seemed like quite a lot for those times.
Agnes remained a nice looking woman even when she was a little overweight.
Her black hair was parted in the center. Sometimes she pulled it straight back and rolled into a bob on the back of her neck. Sometimes she fluffed it over her ears.
She wore a pleasant look on her face and she had a pleasant way with people.
She almost always wore an apron that tied around her waist as she worked around the house. Her son Spencer remarked that he loved to tease his mother by quietly working his way behind her when she was sitting on a kitchen chair, and carefully untying the apron strings so that when she stood up the apron dropped off. Other times, he quietly tied the apron strings to the back of the chair and when she stood up the chair went with her. Everyone would laugh and Agnes, a good sport who took the teasing in a good way, gave Spencer a light smile instead of a good whop.
Agnes was a very sympathetic person. If there was any illness in or out of the family, she was willing and ready to help out. She was very tenderhearted.
Joseph usually had horses on the farm. One day he told his son David to go out in the field and bring in a horse that was in the corn patch. David did as he was told and as he approached the horse it twirled and kicked him. His leg was broken just below the knee. It was a compound fracture. When David was taken to his mother she was so frightened. But they calmed her down. When the doctor came he was drunk, but he set the leg perfectly.
Agnes’ daughter Sarah’s third baby was born prematurely and died shortly after birth. Sarah said the baby looked like a pretty doll in her cream colored casket. Agnes put a white rose bud in the baby’s tiny hand. In time they had to forget their grief and continue on with life. They were comforted by the gospel of Jesus Christ for Sarah knew that she would sometime in the hereafter be able to raise this lovely child.
Despite the lack of money, Agnes cooperated with Joseph who was rather happy-go-lucky, and a kind man. The family lived close to the railroad tracks and every once in a while Joseph brought a hobo home. They would stay a day or two and Agnes fed them and then they were on their way. Pretty soon there would be another hobo at their home to be fed.
Agnes was always doing the neighbors some good. If there was trouble she was there. Her son David told of one time when the father of a family who lived about a half mile from the Paterson home came for help in delivering his wife’s baby. Agnes left her own family to stay from 12 midnight until 9 PM the next night, but the woman died. The woman hadn’t been under a doctor’s care and something was wrong. By the time the husband came for Agnes, there wasn’t much she could do to help the woman. The man wasn’t much on ambition, and after his wife died the children ran around half dressed and half starved. The neighbors kind of looked after them and helped them out, but they didn’t have much of a living.
Joseph’s mother Elizabeth came and went from their home and Agnes’ mother stayed with them also. They were always welcomed.
Agnes was kind to animals and birds. She liked to work with them, to feed them and to watch them. The family had a dog that no one in the family could do anything with. The dog would not work for them. But Agnes could get the dog to do almost anything.
One day the family was all together listening to the new player piano and one of the boys had given Agnes a little pup that he had found. She put it in her apron pocket but the little thing wet on her while he was there. The family had a good laugh. Agnes did not become angry or upset; rather, she laughed also as she took the pup out of her pocket and petted it.
Agnes had a little yellow canary that would sit on a perch and trill and sing to her. How she enjoyed her little song bird. One day, it got out of the cage and flew around the room. Agnes was sitting in her rocking chair rocking and didn’t realize that the canary had wondered under the rocker until it was too late. Oh, she felt so bad about it.
Agnes was of a gentle nature, but because Joseph was working away from home so much, it was up to her to be the disciplinarian of the family.
Her son Spencer said, “If the children got out of line they were straightened out. Being English she had a temper and she didn’t spare the rod when the children did something they shouldn’t.”
Spencer told of a time when he went hunting on a Sunday and when he arrived home he was whipped for going hunting on the Sabbath day. He said, “I’m sure I had it coming, because this was one thing she did not allow us to do.”
At the time the sugar factory was being built Joseph bought a sporty second stage Ford Fliver. Her son David said, “When dad bought this car I was just old enough to get in it and run it through the back of the garage. Even though mother couldn’t drive she kind of took over the car and she didn’t want me to drive it. But I called the agent from Spanish Fork and told him if there was anything wrong with the car I wanted to see what it was. And by the time we drove to Benjamin and back I was ready to drive the car alone. A day or two later I wanted to go to Spanish Fork and I didn’t want to walk. There was an old German staying with the family who was working at the sugar factory, and he wanted to ride to town. So I told him to get in and we went to town, finished our business, and returned to Leland. I headed for the garage and when I wanted to stop the car it wouldn’t stop and we went right through the back of the garage. Oh Dear That old German threw up his hands; he didn’t know what to do. I guess the back of the garage wasn’t very solid because it didn’t hurt anyone or anything; it just went out.
“Father didn’t kick up too big of a racket, but mother said, ‘You can’t touch that car again.’ Well, later she wanted me to go to Spanish Fork for something and I told her I didn’t want to walk all that way and if I went I had to take the car. She said, ‘Go ahead.’ This time I didn’t have any trouble.”
David also said, “Mother disciplined us when we needed it, but she wasn’t a harsh taskmaster at that. But, if she decided she wanted something done in a hurry, then that was the way it was done.”
It must have taken a lot of love, patience, and grit for Agnes to raise such a large family, especially when eight of them were boys.
Important Dates
· Birth: March 20, 1859
· Death: March 24, 1917
With twelve children around there was plenty of competition for sports and games. After choosing up sides, the games were sometimes taken too seriously. Spencer wrote, “Sometimes our games were a little dangerous too. When I think of the things that happened to us it’s a marvel that we ever survived. To mention a few: we fell out of trees, hay and straw stack, barns and sheds, we were kicked by horses and cows, we were bitten by horses and dogs, we had our bare feet stepped on by cows and horses, we ran into clotheslines and barbed wire fences, we had dirt caves fall in upon us, etc.”
David adds, “There was also the danger of runaway horses. Sometimes it was just one horse, other times it was with a team. Sometimes a wagon or a buggy was involved.”
Spencer continues, “I’m sure our guardian angel was watching over us, or we never would have survived some of our escapades.”
If there had been any commercial athletic equipment around at that time there wouldn’t have been any money with which to purchase it anyway. Their balls were out of cork, yarn and string. The bats were homemade. Basketballs were rags. The darts were made out of old shingles, bows out of willows, arrows from cattails found along the river. And of course, there were marbles and horseshoes. No money was spent on sports.
But accidents from over exuberance were not the only thing that Agnes had to contend with. Tom, who was playing the piano for a traveling road show in Spanish Fork, caught small pox from them and brought the disease home to the rest of the family. At this time if any person in a family got a contagious disease, the whole family was quarantined and had to stay in the house until all the danger of transmitting the disease to others outside the family was over. A large sign which said “Quarantine” was placed on the door warning anyone who approached. That was a long winter. By the time the disease was transmitted from eight to ten kids it took a long time to run its course. And no one could do anything but stay home with the small pox.
Their family life was a happy one. There was love in their home and as each child was born, they were welcomed.
Agnes told her children about her family and their home life when she lived in England. She sang different songs she had learned while living there, and she talked about the missionaries that had frequented their thatched roof cottage.
The Joseph R. Paterson family worked together, sang together, and prayed together. In all, it was a good family. But still very normal with the usual problems that a large family brings.
Thomas and his friends gathered at the Paterson home in the evenings and Thomas at the organ and his friends with their violins played music that sounded wonderful to the rest.
Joseph and Agnes purchased the first player piano in town and the children were encouraged to bring friends home.
SCHOOL
The school house was built around 1880. It was located on the country road about half a mile south of the Spanish Fork River. There was one teacher that definitely was not liked by the children, but they had mostly good teachers. The basic subjects of reading, writing and arithmetic were taught. Many of the children at that time went no further than the 8th grade. But the high school in Spanish Fork was completed in 1904, and so Joseph and Agnes’ younger children may have graduated from high school. Some, like David, may have gone only to the 8th grade, but received some further educational training. David received training in welding and mechanics and received his certificates, plus some electrical training.
The children, when they were going to school in Leland took their lunch to school sometimes wrapped in newspaper, but it was almost always wrapped in a piece of white cloth first. The lunch consisted of good slices of homemade bread with plenty of butter, also some roast pork or beef. Some sandwiches were spread with jam. Sarah said, “When we untied the lunch package the aroma from the bread was appetizing and we were so hungry.”
LDS CHURCH
The schoolhouse was also used as the church house. For several years the locality of Leland was know as the South Branch of the Spanish Fork second LDS Ward and later on as the Riverside Branch. On April 29, 1900 the Leland LDS ward was organized.
On Sunday mornings Joseph and the older children got ready and went to Sunday school. Agnes stayed home with the one or two youngest children. She prepared a nice Sunday dinner which was ready when the family returned from church at noon. Then, Agnes and Joseph attended the sacrament meeting in the evening while Rose and Sarah watched the littlest children.
Primary for the young children was held right after school.
Agnes encouraged the children to attend church, to be active, and to participate in the service. If there was a program at church she would encourage the children to take part.
The older boys and girls in the family all attended mutual in the evenings. There seemed always to be entertainments going on in the church organizations or at school with parties or dances. The music was furnished by anyone who could play the organ, violin, or piano. They had as much fun as if they had an orchestra with many pieces.
The people of Leland all lived on farms and so it wasn’t a large branch, but that didn’t stop them from having plenty of entertainment. If there was something special about Spanish Fork like dances in the city pavilion, Pioneer Day, and the 4th of July, the Patersons traveled the short distance to attend and participate.
24TH OF JULY
For the 24th of July all of the farmers got together and built a bowery. They dug hole and set poles in them. They then put poles across the top and covered them with branches for shade. They took planks and put them on tree block for the people to sit on. Sometimes the planks would start to crack when too many fleshy people, such as Agnes’ sister Phyllis, sat on them.
Agnes’ daughter Sarah said, “I think we were a very blessed family. My mother was a very religious woman and a wonderful mother.”
Agnes taught her children to pray. She didn’t want them to do anything on the Sabbath day except to feed and water the animals. Other than that, no kind of work was done on the Sabbath, for that was the day of rest, and that was the day that they should attend church.
When Agnes took in boarders, at the time the sugar factory was being built, she paid tithing on the money she earned. She taught the children about paying their tithing. At that time people often paid their tithing “in kind.”
The children were taught to respect the rights and property of others, and to keep themselves morally clean. They were taught about honesty, service, loyalty and love to other family members.
She encouraged her sons to go on missions. Thomas and William both served missions, but after this World War I started and the lives of Agnes’ sons took on another direction.
When Thomas was called by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to fill a mission in the southern states he was quite young, but Agnes and Joseph felt that he should go. While on his mission he and his companion were attacked by some Mormon haters who tried to destroy them. At the time this happened they were staying at the home of a church member by the name of Shaw. Brother Shaw, his wife and family were in danger themselves because they were trying to protect the Mormon Elders. But the Elders and Brother Shaw were a support to each other, and Brother Shaw’s house was made of heavy logs and these were a good protection. But blessedly, more than these things, they all knew that the Lord was watching over them.
At home, Agnes, a woman of faith said, “I am not too worried about my son, I know he will be protected from all danger.”
CAREY, IDAHO 1910-1914
One day, Joseph read in the paper about 200 acres of land for sale at Carey, Idaho. He made a trip to Carey to look over the land and was convinced that a move should be made. Agnes, however, wasn’t very happy about it, but consented to go so that the family could be together.
Three of the Patersons married children, Sarah, Hyrum and James, their spouses and their children, packed their belongings and shipped them, along with a cow and two horses in a rented freight car, to Idaho. Three days later they, along with young Spencer, left Utah by train for Idaho.
Joseph met them with a team of horses and a buggy at Picab, Idaho and took them to the ranch where an extra large one room log house was sectioned off for living quarters for each family.
Agnes moved to Idaho six to eight months after the others. Their son David was the last to arrive there. Joseph built Agnes a three room house across the road from some hot springs (in his history Spencer mentioned how he enjoyed swimming there). In a way it was a happy time. The hunting and the fishing were marvelous and Joseph and the boys enjoyed this. There were also the family get-togethers with singing and members of the family group participating in doing something such as quoting poetry, etc. to entertain the rest of the family.
Attendance of Sabbath meetings suffered because they lived so far away from the LDS meeting houses. But Joseph read each evening from the scriptures. He particularly liked to read the faith promoting Book of Mormon stories.
More grandchildren were born which was a joy to Agnes and Joseph. The families worked together in the spirit of cooperation as they had always done, but a homesteader’s life is hard and they had to rely on the Lord for many things; especially during times of giving birth, and illness of family members.
Going to Idaho didn’t work out so well. They raised good crops, but there was no sale for them. Agnes and Joseph had problems over the decision to try to save the property in Idaho by mortgaging the farm that they still owned in Leland. Agnes said, “I’m afraid that we’ll end up by losing the whole thing.” Sadly, this came true later on.
Joseph and Agnes gave up the ranch and, with the younger children, moved back to the farm in Leland, Utah. Joseph was 62 years old, and Agnes was 55 years old.
Before leaving Idaho, Agnes was given a Patriarchal blessing under the hands of Edward Davis of the Boise Stake on May 4, 1914 at Carey, Idaho.
PATRIARCHAL BLESSING
Upon the head of Agnes Measom Patterson, daughter of Thomas Measom and Sarah Hill Measom, Born in Burton Overy, Leices. Englang, March 20, 1859.
Sister Agnes Patterson, I lay my hands upon your head and give unto you a patriarchal blessing, as the spirit of God shall direct.
Thou didst covenant with thy Father in Heaven to come to earth in this dispensation to become a mother in Israel and to train thy children in the Gospel of Eternal Life. Thou hast fulfilled thy covenant with the Lord thus far.
The Lord has had care over thee from thy childhood and had delivered thee from the raging of the elements, and from the anger of wicked men, and hast blessed thee, and multiplied thee and will continue to multiply blessings upon thy head and upon the head of thy companion.
In a day to come thou shalt be surrounded by thy posterity a great multitude, among them shall be many noble sons of God, Priests and Kings, they shall pay homage to thee and thy companion. Thy children shall live to see the Saints of God possess the land. They shall be valiant in assisting in preparing the earth for the coming of our Lord. Thy heart and the heart of thy companion shall be made to rejoice because of the Glory which thine eyes shall behold. Even the Glory of Zion when she shall arise and shine and become the joy of the whole earth.
Thy sons shall be among those who sit in high places, their seed also shall be multiplied in the earth. The blessings pronounced upon Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are thine, for in thy seed shall families of earth be blessed. Therefore, give thine heart unto God, and He shall purify thee and cleanse thee and thou shalt become healthy and strong. Life shall be a joy, and a pleasure unto thee. Wisdom and knowledge shall be given thee to counsel thy family in righteousness. If thou wilt but humble thine heart unto the Lord by bowing before Him in secret prayer He will bless thee, and thy posterity with the blessings of earth and of heaven. Peace and contentment shall be in thy home, thy habitation shall be a place of rest and comfort for thy children like unto a heaven. Thou shalt be a wise counselor and a stay unto thy husband, supporting him by thy faith and good works. Thou shalt take pleasure and delight in distributing blessings to all who come unto thee. A mansion shall be prepared for thee in the Heavens. Thy companion shall be among the sons of God, thou shalt sit beside him while the multitude of thy posterity shall bow before thee and sing thy praises in the courts above.
Look unto the Lord thy God in faith, and all things shall be done unto thee according to the righteous desires of thy heart. Trust not in the arm of flesh, but call upon the Lord in time of trouble, and great shall be thy joy.
I seal these blessings upon thee with all former blessings that have been pronounced upon thee, and I seal thee up unto Eternal Life to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection and take thy place in the Tribe of Ephraim and be clothed in Glory and Immortality. In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Priesthood in me vested, even so, Amen.
Edward Davis, Patriarch
Agnes’ health had not been good for many years. She had diabetes and at that time doctors knew very little about the treatment of it. Agnes became very ill with double lobar pneumonia and after a very short illness died on Saturday March 24, 1917, just four days after she had turned 58 years old.
Funeral services were held on Thursday afternoon, commencing at 1:00 at the Leland ward meeting house, on the 29th of March 1917. She was buried in the Spanish Fork city cemetery.
A little less than a month after Agnes’ death the United States officially declared war on Germany and entered World War I in April 17, 1917. Her sons David, Alma, and Bob served in the US service. Spencer was ready and waiting to go as soon as his call came, but the war ended and Agnes’ sons who were in the service returned safely home.
Below, taken from the card that was given at the time of her death:
GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
A precious one from us has gone
A voice we loved is stilled,
A place is vacant in our home,
Which never can be filled.
God in his wisdom has recalled,
The boon his love had given,
And though the body slumbers here,
The soul is safe in Heaven.
Agnes raised twelve children to adulthood. She devoted her life to her family; a family with Mormon traditions that have been passed on to their children; traditions such as love of family, God and their church and country; traditions such as serving missions and service to family and others; traditions of close family ties, of supporting on another and of being self-reliant. Agnes Measom Patterson, a wonderful mother, a noble daughter of God.
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